第142章
《安徒生童话英文版 全TXT版》章节:第142章,宠文网网友提供全文无弹窗免费在线阅读。!
"This is the coat!" and"Here is the cloak!" and so on. "They are all as light as a cobweb,and one must feel as if one had nothing at all upon the body; but thatis just the beauty of them."
"Indeed!" said all the courtiers; but they could not see anything,for there was nothing to be seen.
"Does it please your Majesty now to graciously undress," saidthe swindlers, "that we may assist your Majesty in putting on thenew suit before the large looking-glass?"
The emperor undressed, and the swindlers pretended to put thenew suit upon him, one piece after another; and the emperor lookedat himself in the glass from every side.
"How well they look! How well they fit!" said all. "What abeautiful pattern! What fine colours! That is a magnificent suit ofclothes!"
The master of the ceremonies announced that the bearers of thecanopy, which was to be carried in the procession, were ready.
"I am ready," said the emperor. "Does not my suit fit memarvellously?" Then he turned once more to the looking-glass, thatpeople should think he admired his garments.
The chamberlains, who were to carry the train, stretched theirhands to the ground as if they lifted up a train, and pretended tohold something in their hands; they did not like people to know thatthey could not see anything.
The emperor marched in the procession under the beautifulcanopy, and all who saw him in the street and out of the windowsexclaimed: "Indeed, the emperor's new suit is incomparable! What along train he has! How well it fits him!" Nobody wished to letothers know he saw nothing, for then he would have been unfit forhis office or too stupid. Never emperor's clothes were more admired.
"But he has nothing on at all," said a little child at last. "Goodheavens! listen to the voice of an innocent child," said the father,and one whispered to the other what the child had said. "But he hasnothing on at all," cried at last the whole people. That made a deepimpression upon the emperor, for it seemed to him that they wereright; but he thought to himself, "Now I must bear up to the end." Andthe chamberlains walked with still greater dignity, as if they carriedthe train which did not exist.
THE END.
1872
FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
THE FARM-YARD COCK AND THE WEATHER-COCK
by Hans Christian Andersen
THERE were two cocks- one on the dung-hill, the other on the roof.They were both arrogant, but which of the two rendered most service?Tell us your opinion- we'll keep to ours just the same though.
The poultry yard was divided by some planks from another yard inwhich there was a dung-hill, and on the dung-hill lay and grew a largecucumber which was conscious of being a hot-bed plant.
"One is born to that," said the cucumber to itself. "Not all canbe born cucumbers; there must be other things, too. The hens, theducks, and all the animals in the next yard are creatures too. Now Ihave a great opinion of the yard cock on the plank; he is certainly ofmuch more importance than the weather-cock who is placed so high andcan't even creak, much less crow. The latter has neither hens norchicks, and only thinks of himself and perspires verdigris. No, theyard cock is really a cock! His step is a dance! His crowing is music,and wherever he goes one knows what a trumpeter is like! If he wouldonly come in here! Even if he ate me up stump, stalk, and all, and Ihad to dissolve in his body, it would be a happy death," said thecucumber.
In the night there was a terrible storm. The hens, chicks, andeven the cock sought shelter; the wind tore down the planks betweenthe two yards with a crash; the tiles came tumbling down, but theweather-cock sat firm. He did not even turn round, for he could not;and yet he was young and freshly cast, but prudent and sedate. Hehad been born old, and did not at all resemble the birds flying in theair- the sparrows, and the swallows; no, he despised them, thesemean little piping birds, these common whistlers. He admitted that thepigeons, large and white and shining like mother-o'-pearl, looked likea kind of weather-cock; but they were fat and stupid, and all theirthoughts and endeavours were directed to filling themselves with food,and besides, they were tiresome things to converse with. The birdsof passage had also paid the weather-cock a visit and told him offoreign countries, of airy caravans and robber stories that made one'shair stand on end. All this was new and interesting; that is, forthe first time, but afterwards, as the weather-cock found out, theyrepeated themselves and always told the same stories, and that'svery tedious, and there was no one with whom one could associate,for one and all were stale and small-minded.
"The world is no good!"